Byron leads first Trucks practice at Homestead

William Byron was fastest during opening NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice at Homestead Miami Speedway with a speed of 171.411 MPH.

Kyle Larson was second, followed by Johnny Sauter, Cole Custer, Matt Crafton, Tyler Reddick, Ben Kennedy, Ben Rhodes, Daniel Hemric, and Spencer Gallagher.

Sauter, Crafton are among four drivers competing for the championship in the season-finale. Timopthy Peters was 11th and Christopher Bell, the remaining Chase driver, was 14th during the session.

34 drivers practiced during the session.

Allgaier 'We're all even' going into Homestead

Justin Allgaier is one of four drivers left competing for the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) championship this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS).

“Going into Homestead, we’re all even," Allgaier said. "We’ve got a 25- percent chance, a one-in-four shot at winning it (the championship), the same as everybody else does. For us, you sit on the pole and you win the race, that’s all you can do. We have to do as close to that as we can. The faster we go in qualifying, the faster we are in the race. All of that makes our job a lot easier when it comes down to the checkered flag and the championship. I’m confident that our BRANDT Professional Agriculture team can go out and make it happen."

The 30-year-old driver has eight top-10 finishes in 10 starts on 1.5-mile tracks this season.

In six NXS starts at HMS, Allgaier has a best finish of 11th twice (2010, 2012). During the 2016 NXS Chase, Allgaier has posted two top-five and five top-10 finishes in six races, with an average finish of 7.7.

Sadler prepares for Final 4 XFINITY bout

Elliott Sadler enters the weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS) as one of the four eligible drivers to win the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Chase.

“We have done everything that we need to do to get ready for Homestead and we are as prepared as we can be as a race team," Sadler said. "We have saved our Darlington car which is our best car for Homestead. I have a lot of experience, I need to be a leader, and I need to stay focused. We are fortunate to be in this position to go fight three other guys for the driver championship and a few others for the owner championship. We are going to go make the most of it.”

Sadler has 10 NXS starts at HMS and has one top five along with four top-10 finishes. In 10 races at 1.5-mile tracks this season, Sadler has one win (Kentucky), four top-five and 9 top-10 finishes.

JR Motorsports race operations manager Mike Bumgarner will serve as crew chief of the No. 1 OneMain Financial team at HMS.

Still in the Hunt for 2016 NXS Owner Championship: Heading into this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, JR Motorsports is still in the hunt for its first NASCAR Xfinity Series owner championship as an organization with the No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Camaro. Owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and driven by Sadler, the No. 1 entry has three wins, 13 top fives and 28 top 10s on the season.

Full schedule for Homestead-Miami

The NASCAR Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series gather for the season-finale tripleheader at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. Check out the full schedule below.


Note: All times are ET

FRIDAY, NOV. 18:
ON TRACK
-- 8:30-9:30 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first practice, FS1
-- 10:30-11:25 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FS1
-- 12:30-1:55 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
-- 2-3:25 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
-- 3:45 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FS1
-- 5-5:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
-- 6:15 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App 
-- 8 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200 (134 laps, 201 miles), FS1

SATURDAY, NOV. 19:
ON TRACK
-- 10-10:55 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series second practice, CNBC/NBC Sports App
-- 11:15 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, CNBC/NBC Sports App
-- 1-1:50 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
-- 3:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Ford EcoBoost 300 (200 laps, 300 miles), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

SUNDAY, NOV. 20:
ON TRACK
-- 2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 (267 laps, 400.5 miles), NBC/NBC Sports App

- NASCAR

Crafton seeks third Truck Series title at Homestead

After starting 10th and finishing third in last weekend's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix, Matt Crafton raced his way into the series' Championship 4 to compete for his third series title at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford EcoBoost 200 on Friday night.

The third-place result was Crafton’s sixth top-five finish in 16 starts at PIR, and allowed the Menards driver to clinch a spot in the ‘Championship 4’ for the NCWTS finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway next Friday night.

“We just raced as hard as we could all night," Crafton said. "We just kept tuning on it, and raced smart. Timothy (Peters), he had nothing to lose, he was throwing Hail Mary’s without a doubt. We couldn’t take any chances and get ourselves thrown out. I kept an eye on him, and the 21 (Johnny Sauter). We just raced our butts off, and we’re going to Homestead.”

In 22 starts in 2016, Crafton has one pole (Atlanta), two wins, and has led 436 laps en route to eight top-five, and 15 top-10 finishes.

In 383 career NCWTS starts, Crafton has earned 12 poles, led 2125 laps en route to 13 wins, 97 top-five, and 225 top-10 finishes.

Johnson goes for record breaking title at Homestead

Jimmie Johnson will try to finish ahead of Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano to win his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford EcoBoost 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

If Johnson wins that seventh titlr, it will tie him with NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for most Sprint Cup championships in a career.

It's definitely different, there's just no way around that," Johnson said tgis week. "The way I've won championships before, it was a 10-race, stressful environment.

"The way things unfolded for me this year, I had three stressful races worrying about points. I won Charlotte, had a couple weeks off, then I won Martinsville, had a couple weeks off, and then go back to the stress again."

Johnson has a best finish at Homestead of second, which came in 2010 when he won his fifth in a row of his six current championships. Edwards won that race.

The point is, Johnson has a chance to make NASCAR history this weekend at Homestead.

Mike Bumgarner named Sadler's Miami crew chief

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 15, 2016) -- JR Motorsports race operations manager Mike Bumgarner will serve as crew chief of the No. 1 OneMain Financial team this Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway as driver Elliott Sadler vies for the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship.

Bumgarner will fill the role normally occupied by Kevin Meendering. Meendering is serving a one-race suspension as it was determined last Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway that two lugnuts were not satisfactorily fastened to the No. 1 car at the end of the Ticket Galaxy 200. NASCAR announced the infraction and penalty following the event.

"We let Kevin ultimately make this decision because it's his team," said general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller. "Kevin chose Mike to sit in the crew chief's seat and for good reason -- he is experienced atop the pit box and very dependable. We have a great deal of confidence in Mike to give Elliott his best opportunity to win on Saturday."

As one of the drivers left standing in the XFINITY Series Championship 4, Sadler can win his first NASCAR title in Saturday's season finale. The Emporia, Virginia, native enters the race with three wins in 2016, 13 top-fives and 28 top-10s in 32 starts. He will compete against JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez.

Bumgarner, a native of Huntersville, N.C., is a 22-year veteran in NASCAR. He spent 18 years at Hendrick Motorsports, where he worked on cars for Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch. In 2007, he was crew chief on Busch's No. 5 Chevrolet, which won four races and three pole awards. Bumgarner came to JRM in 2013 as crew chief for Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet in the No. 5 NXS entry. The following year he was promoted to oversee race operations for all JR Motorsports teams.

Kenseth's title hopes erased after bizarre turn of events

By JENNA FRYER (AP)

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — As Matt Kenseth left the garage at Phoenix International Raceway, his crew chief hung his arm over the driver in an attempt to lift their spirits.

Kenseth had been two laps away from victory and a spot in next week's championship race.

Instead, he had a wrecked race car and a pink slip from NASCAR's playoffs.

"I felt so bad for him. He drove his heart out all day long and it's just one of those things that happens," said team owner Joe Gibbs.

It was a split-second decision that cost Kenseth his season, but opened the door for teammate Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, his most despised rival a year ago.

A late caution forced Kenseth, only two trips around Phoenix away from the win, to withstand a two-lap overtime shootout to collect his checkered flag. He was in the lead and on the outside of Alex Bowman when Busch bumped into Bowman.

Bowman bobbled but was still on the bottom line as he and Kenseth entered the corner. Kenseth dropped low because spotter Chris Osborne told him he was clear, but he and Bowman instead collided.

Just like that, Kenseth was done.

"It's a team effort. Win as a team, lose as a team. I can't blame Chris," Kenseth said. "I didn't see what happened. He said I was clear, so I started looking toward the corner and got turned around. So many things happen in a hurry. All I know is I was looking at the corner, trying to think about getting off turn 2 to try to go win the race."

The sequence allowed both Logano and Busch to advance into next Sunday's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But Busch was initially focused only on redeeming himself with Kenseth because he believed his contact with Bowman on the restart triggered the Kenseth crash.

Joe Gibbs Racing had four drivers in the round of eight and was vying to sweep the championship field. Carl Edwards went to Phoenix already locked into the finale, but three Gibbs drivers were vying for the remaining two slots. They dismissed all notion of cutthroat competition, and the four drivers spent Saturday morning hiking a nearby mountain together.

So Busch felt awful about Kenseth's turbulent turn.

"Right now it feels pretty (expletive), but tomorrow it might feel a lot better," Busch said. "I'm not sure, depends on what Matt's interpretation is and whether or not he can forgive. I just feel really bad about what happened there on that last restart. The 20 (Kenseth) should have been the Gibbs car to go through."

Osborne, though, accepted blame for the accident after falsely indicating it was safe to move to the bottom lane. He posted on Twitter an apology for his role in the Kenseth's Chase ending. He said this error was "on me!!"

Curiously, there's a second defining moment of Kenseth's season that also was linked to a spotter.

On the last lap of the Daytona 500, Kenseth threw a block that backfired and helped teammate Denny Hamlin win the race. At the time, Osborne was recovering from a car accident, and there was speculation that the replacement spotter contributed to Kenseth's incorrect decision to block.

Kenseth, meanwhile, failed to advance to the finale in all three of its years since the creation of the elimination format.

Logano is going back for the second time in three years and got there by winning an elimination race for the second time of these playoffs. He'll be trying to give Roger Penske a season sweep during its 50th anniversary season. Simon Pagenaud won the IndyCar title in September.

"I've never felt this good about a win before," Logano said. "There was so much on the line and everyone brings their A-game when it comes to winning championships and this team did it."

Busch finished second and earned a chance to defend last year's title. He'll meet Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson, who is seeking a record-tying seventh championship, in Homestead.

Eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday were Kevin Harvick, an eight-time winner at Phoenix who had raced in the last two finales, as well as his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch. Gibbs drivers Kenseth and Denny Hamlin were also knocked out of the field.

Logano wins Phoenix as he and Kyle Busch complete final 4

via AP.

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Matt Kenseth's misfortune gave Joey Logano a chance to race for the championship.

In an improbable turn of events, Kenseth came within two laps of a spot in next week in the title-deciding finale to eliminated from NASCAR's playoffs. Logano was gifted a victory Sunday that put him in the final four after a tense double-overtime event at Phoenix International Raceway.

Kenseth had the win in hand until a late caution sent the race to extra laps. Although he cleared traffic on the restart, his teammate Kyle Busch had contact with Alex Bowman that altered Bowman's racing line.

Kenseth's spotter told the driver he was clear, but he actually cut down on Bowman and the contact caused him to crash.

Logano saw the sequence unfolding, let off his gas early, and slid into the lead after the accident. He then held off Busch in the second overtime for the win that qualified him for the championship next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Prior to Kenseth's accident, Logano was in danger of elimination.

"I'm like 'Oh, shoot, we're out,' and it was going to be so close there at the end to try to get ourselves through, and next thing you know the caution comes out and the whole game changes," Logano said. "We find ourselves as the leader and we win the race. That's NASCAR racing at its finest."

Logano won the race — the second time in this Chase he used a victory in an elimination race to advance — and will race for his first Sprint Cup title next Sunday. He'll be trying to give Roger Penske a season sweep during its 50th anniversary season. Simon Pagenaud won the IndyCar title in September.

"I've never felt this good about a win before," Logano said. "There was so much on the line and everyone brings their A-game when it comes to winning championships and this team did it.

"I feel like I just won the Daytona 500 again."

Busch finished second and earned a chance to defend last year's title. He'll meet Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson, who is seeking a record-tying seventh championship, in Homestead.

JGR, which was trying to get all four of its Toyotas into the final , wound up with only two and Busch wasn't feeling celebratory. He believed his contact with Bowman triggered the accident that wrecked Kenseth's season.

"It's really unfortunate and devastating to have the race come down like that," Busch said. "That's so frustrating and aggravating, and I feel horrible."

Eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday were Kevin Harvick, an eight-time winner at Phoenix who had raced in the last two finales, as well as his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch. Gibbs drivers Kenseth and Denny Hamlin were also knocked out of the field.

"Disappointing would be the way to put it lightly," Kenseth said. "Finish that race five minutes before that, looked like we had a chance to go race for a championship. It was a big swing in 10 or 15 minutes."

Hamlin finished seventh after a bizarre decision not to pit with the rest of the field for track position. Although it gave him a brief lead, he was no match for drivers with fresh tires.

"I knew it was going to be an uphill climb," Hamlin said.

PIT ROAD PENALTIES: NASCAR picked Sunday to enforce a rule against passing the pace car when a driver dips onto pit road for a stop. Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson were both penalized for the infraction, and the punishment was holding the car for a lap on pit road.

Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus were incredulous.

"I don't understand that in the least little bit," Johnson said on his radio. "This is absolutely ridiculous, NASCAR. I have no clue what I did wrong."

Johnson said he'll ask for clarification this week.

"In 15 years, that has never been a concern, and I was always told that the last thing NASCAR wanted to do would be to penalize the leader," Johnson said. "I am still baffled, and I don't know if I will stop being baffled."

BOWMAN OUT FRONT: Alex Bowman badly wants a job for next year, and his continued strong pace as the replacement driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. is giving him a solid case to present to prospective employers.

Bowman had led just nine laps in his first 79 career Sprint Cup races. Six of those laps were earlier this year driving Earnhardt's Chevrolet. A pole-winning run for Sunday's race helped Bowman lead a race-high 194 laps and was attempting to win the race before the late accident. He faded to sixth, and felt bad about his incident with Kenseth.

"I hate it for Matt. I would have raced the hell out of him for the win, but definitely don't want to do that," Bowman said. "Hate that, and it ruined our day, too. So it's unfortunate."

UP NEXT: The season finale at Homestead, where the championship will be decided. Harvick won the race in 2014 to win his championship, and Kyle Busch won last year to claim the title.